Praying with Anger

Yes, this depiction is outright because it highlights the necessity of one's origin. Certain elements of our lives are locked or rather concealed with us until we enter the vicinity of our origin. Because usually the end is the start from where we came. Great movie overall, Wonder what took me so long to watch it. Recommended to me by a random blogger, I highly recommend it to all that will read my review. You shant regret investing your hours in it. The character is easy to connect with as his situation is seemingly very relatable. Great movie for friends and family too. Would watch it tirelessly had I the time.

This is it, where it all started. M. Night Shyamalan's first movie "Praying With Anger" is a film about an Indian-American boy going to India, the place where his parents were born, so he can learn of his families way of life. I'll start out with saying that the concept is very intriguing. The plot is well written enough, but not perfect. Some characters are a bit inconsistent with there goals and behavior. The acting is decent, but again not perfect. Shyamalan himself is the strongest actor in the film, everyone else is okay. I'm not knocking the actors though, I know it's a hard job. And finally the filmmaking. It's a bit amateurish, but than again, Shyamalan was an amateur when he made this. It's his first film after all, it's good for what he had. If he made the movie now, I guarantee it would have better acting, cinematography, writing, and editing. In general, the movie is an impressive feat. Especially for his first movie, being self funded and all, I'd give it about a 6.6 out of 10.

I saw this when it was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

It was a late entry, but the festival's programmers were so impressed by this debut feature by a young filmmaker (only 20 during shooting) that they put it on the program anyway. One of them (David Overbey as I recall, sadly now deceased) introduced Shyamalan and glowingly said something like "Watch this young man; he's going places and you'll be seeing a lot more of him". Pretty good assessment.

The film is about a teenager, born in India but raised in the U.S. (as Shyamalan was), who goes to his birthplace for a long visit and experiences major culture shock. He sees various aspects of local life with his American eyes, from trivial things to matters of life and death, and the film shows his bemusement while doing a good job of communicating the thoughts of the local characters. I would say that he chose well the issues to highlight (I too am a South Asian raised in the West, born in Canada to Sri Lankan parents who planned to go back but never did), like the importance of superstition and the local variety of racism. However, some parts were a bit too Hollywood for me, in particular the scene where the protagonist stops a lynch mob by preaching his American brand of morality - in much the same way that Captain Kirk used to prevent interstellar war with a few glib phrases.

After the screening, an audience member asked Shyamalan how autobiographical the film was. He replied that he had indeed taken the same kind of journey, but that the movie was definitely fictional. As he put it, "I did not quell a riot in India".

Another question from the audience was how much the movie had cost to make. His answer: "About a million". He didn't say where the money came from, but clearly someone took a chance on this talented young filmmaker. I'm sorry that the film didn't get released; it has stayed with me through the years despite my never having heard of the guy at the time. And now that I've seen other movies he's made, I'd like to watch this again to see more of their origins, much as I was fascinated by watching, long after it was made, Stanley Kubrick's first feature Fear and Desire.

A film about an Indian-American who returns to his homeland to go to college. It very accurately depicts the social conventions of the time. It is a movie about inner courage and self-discovery that will leave you with a good feeling when it is over.

'Praying with Anger' is rarely seen semi-autobiographical debut by director M. Night Shyamalan. There is a rumor that after the success of 'The Sixth Sense' Shyamalan bought all the VHS copies of the film because he was embarrassed by it. Although the film didn't get exactly a wide release first place. 'Praying with Anger' has primarily shown at film festivals, and some second hand VHSs still circle around and occasionally it pops up in the internet.

This is not a movie to get out of your pants for. Maybe if you're a hardcore Shyamalan fan. I was personally clad to see the film because I'm interested in famous and renown directors' first works.

The story and pacing is uneven. It takes some time to build up any interest to continue watching it. Most scenes don't have the impact that filmmaker obviously wanted to have and they simply fall flat and cliché ridden. Mixed with occasional humor and little hints with supernatural and totally out of place awkwardly directed scenes (hey, let's just play some football with these kids over there). The acting is nothing special - not a single ultimately bad or masterfully good performance to point out. If becoming film director wouldn't have worked out for M. Night he could always play some Indian comic relief side character in some silly sitcom.

'Praying with Anger' is not very strong film, quite forgettable actually, and it's not strong even for debut, but it showed then that Shyamalan has some talent to become capable